It has not been 4 months since Michelle and I arrived at Emmanuel Church and we are feeling really encouraged by everyone here. This truly is a warm hearted, loving and friendly congregation and we are thankful to the Lord for the manner in which everyone has responded to us and our ministry.

We continue to see wonderful attendances in our children’s ministry to the extent that we have had to clear out the spare room to accommodate all the children on a Sunday morning. I have been in good contact with the children’s church teachers and have been monitoring their programs and teaching. Currently I am working with some of the full time children’s ministry people in CESA to obtain more teaching material that will benefit our children. Grounding them in the truth of the gospel is absolutely critical and we are committed to building up this ministry.

Our Bible study groups are doing well. The Tuesday morning group has finished the book of 1 Peter and have started Genesis and the Wednesday group have finished their study on “how to study the Bible” and have subsequently started a study on the 39 Articles of Religion, thus exploring Anglican ministry and doctrinal distinctives. It has been good to see numerical growth in these groups and we praise the Lord for that. The Thursday morning group in Edleen is also operational and this has the potential to give us a presence in Kempton Park.

The International Food Evening was a resounding success and it was tremendous to see so many of our congregation getting stuck in and enjoying the evening. Our community awareness is growing and we have seen some of the visitors to the International Evening in church and we are grateful to God for the way in which He is working.

In terms of our services we have seen a fair number of visitors and our prayer is that they will stay and that this will be a good way for our church to grow. With our Christmas season approaching we need to make a concerted effort to reach out to the community and exhort those in Edenvale to come and experience a true Christmas where Jesus is honoured as Saviour of the world. To this end we are planning a carols by candlelight to which we will invite the community through various advertising initiatives. Our children will be involved through a nativity play and we trust that families will come to support them. This will be a wonderful way to anticipate our remembrance of the birth of Christ as we enter the time of advent.

On a financial note we are surviving through the generosity of the congregation for which we are very thankful. In addition, we still receive donations from the central trustees of CESA as well as our church partner in Blairgowrie. As this support will soon start to decline we need to be in earnest prayer that the Lord would provide for us as He sees fit. He has never let His people down and we are certain that He will continue to prove His faithfulness as we are obedient to Him. Financial giving is a joy and delight, the privilege of the believers to partner with God in how He is working in our church and community.

Michelle and I have been making a concerted effort to visit each family of our congregation and although we have not yet seen everyone, we are making considerable progress. Having moved into Edenvale recently we are now able to dedicate more time to this. We would like to thank those who have invited us into their homes, we are truly honoured and are grateful to God for the warm fellowship we have received. If we have not yet visited you please don’t feel left out, it is our intention to complete our visiting as and when the congregation are available. This is a great blessing to us.

The Ladies for the Lord continue to astonish me with the superb manner in which they go about their ministry. With the jumble and table sales coming up it’s clear that they are hard at work to ensure that these and other events happen as and when they should. Having attended a meeting of theirs recently I can say how impressed I am. At present I am considering a new men’s ministry to commence in the new year and as soon as I have an outline of what I would like to propose I will send out the information.

I have had the privilege of attending the CESA Synod and next week I will be away at Post Ordination Training which is a training workshop for CESA ministers. This year we will be working through the book of Galatians in order to understand it more clearly and be able to teach it in our churches. I am very thankful for the opportunity to receive this training and am grateful that the church council have decided to invest in me in this way.

Michelle and I would like to thank everyone for their support, love and friendliness, we feel at home amongst you and are delighted at the way in which our ministry has been welcomed.

God bless you all as we anticipate the end of the year together.

Much love to you all in Christ,

Bryan Haigh